Qa-16, 24 February 2018, Statement Of The Spokesperson Of The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Mr Hami Aksoy,regarding The Resolution Adopted By The United Nations Security Council On The Humanitarian Situation In Syria

Republic Of Turkey Ministry Of Foreign Affairs 24.02.2018

We welcome the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council today in
response to the worsening humanitarian situation all across Syria, in
particular in Eastern Ghouta that demands the cessation of hostilities
without delay and calls for a humanitarian ceasefire to become affective at
least for 30 days in order to allow access to emergency humanitarian aid
and medical evacuations.

From the beginning, Turkey has spared no effort in every platform for the
de-escalation and cessation of the conflict in Syria, as well as the
establishment of a comprehensive ceasefire and supported the steps taken by
the international community to this end. Six observation posts that have
been established in the Idlib de-escalation area to date are testament to
our efforts.

We have previously expressed our concerns due to the increase in regime’s
violations and the worsening humanitarian situation in line with the
blockade applied by the regime in civilian areas, and called for an end to
these violations in several statements that we have made so far. We raised
these concerns also with Russia and Iran, as the guarantors of the regime
and underlined that regime’s attacks on civilians and ongoing violation of
the ceasefire disrupt our joint efforts in the de-escalation zones.

Uninterrupted access to humanitarian aid is required by international law.
The use of starvation as a weapon against civilians is unacceptable. We
fully support the call for the full implementation of the UN Security
Council resolution 2268 which was also referenced in the resolution adopted
today.

Turkey, while continuing to extend humanitarian assistance to the Syrian
people to relieve their suffering and support the efforts of the
international community, particularly the UN, will at the same time
maintain efforts to end the conflict that lies at the core of the
humanitarian crisis in Syria and will remain resolute in fighting against
the terrorist organizations that threaten the territorial integrity and
political unity of Syria.